Brake mechanism



Aug. 6, 1929. p CAMP 1,723,722

BRAKE MECHANI SM Filed Feb. 2, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l In $197260)"; leway B. Cam i P. B. CAMP 1,723,722

BRAKE MECHANISM 'F'iled Feb. 2, 1925 2 Sheets-Shet 2 fnwe g JP6719 525Ill/a.

| I Ju -J L l Patented Aug. 6, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

YERCY B. CAMP, OF MAYWOOD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL DRAFT GEARATTACHMENT (30., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BRAKE MECHANISM.

Application filed February This invention relates to brakes, and moreparticularly to brake operating mechanism.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of new and improvedbrake ope'ating mechanism that, during its initial movement, willrapidly take up the slack in the mechanism and that 011 its finalmovement will have increased leverage for applying the brakes.

. Another object of the invention is the provision of a sectional brakestaff that is provided with new and improved mechanism for causing thesections to move together during the initial, turning of the staff, butwhich will auton'iatically shift the mechanism whereby one section ofthe shaft may be rotated relatively to the other, thereby increas ingthe leverage in the final turning of the stall in applying the brakes.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of newandimproved means for applying brake mechanism that is selflocking inoperation.

Other and further objects and advantages oi? the invention will appearfrom the following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a railwaycar showing my invention in positi on thereon Fig. 2 is a section online 2-2 of Figs. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the differential gear mechanism with partsin section and parts broken. away; 7

Fig. 4. is a section on line 1l of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of a detail; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of another detail of the invention.

On the drawings, the reference character 8 designates a railway car, onone end of which is mounted a platform 9 and a brake staff 10 comprisingthe upper and lower sections 11 and 12. The upper section is providedwith a lever or hand wheel 13 for manually rotating the shaft, as isusual in such constructions. A conical drum 14 is mounted on the lowersection 12 of the shaft. A flexible member, as the cable 16, is adaptedto be wound on the drum 14 for operating the brake operating mechanism.The brake operating mechanism may be of any suitable form. In the formdisclosed in the drawings the mechanism comprises a lever in the form ofan eccentrically mounted sheave 17. The lever 2, 1925. Serial No. 6,199.

is pivoted in the bifurcated end of a brake rod 18 which is connected tothe brake lever in the usual manner. The cable 16 is led around thesheave 17 and has its opposite end attached to the anchor member 19. Thecable 16 is attached to the sheave as at 21 whereby when the drum 1 1 isrotated it will cause rotation of the sheave 17. The parts are soarranged that during the initial turning of the brake staff the cablewill be wound on the larger portion of the drum and will operate on theshort end of the lever or sheave 17 whereby the slack will be taken upvery rapidly. During the final movement of the staff the cable will windabout the smaller portion of the conical drum 14 and will at the sametime be operating on the long arm of the lever 17 whereby great powerapplied to the brake rod for setting the brakes.

It is desirable that mechanism be provided for connecting the twosections of the brake stafi', whereby during the initial turning of thewheel 13 the two sections will turn together, but as soon as the settingof the brakes ofi'ers a predetermined resistance to the winding of thecable 16 on the drum 14 the con necting mechanism will be shiftedautomatically and the drum 1% will rotate at a slower rate of speed thanthe wheel 13, thereby greatly increasing the leverage in setting thebrakes. A suitable gear mechanism employed for this purpose will now bedescribed.

In the form of the device selected to illustrate one embodiment of theinvention the mechanism comprises a casing 22 which composed of an uppersection 23 and a lower section 24:. The lower section 24 of the casing22 has its central portion depressed, that is, the section iscup-shaped. The upper portion of the lower section is provided with anannular laterally extending flange 25 which is adapted to be engaged onits under side by rollers 26 on the upper section of the casing forholding the two sections assembled. The section 24 is provided with adepending hub 27 through which the lower section 12 of the brake staffis adapted to extend and rotate therein.

Suitable means are provided for connecting the two sections of the brakestall together. As shown, a difierential gear mechanism is employed forthis purpose. The mechanism comprises a spider 28 non-rotatably mountedon the upper end of the stall section 12. in any approved manner, as byproviding an angular recess in the hub portion 31 of the s ider in whichthe upper angular end 32 of the staff section 12 is adapted to engage.The spider is in the form of a plate having its central portiondepressed. The plate is provided wi th an opening at each end thereofacross which extend spindles 33 carried by said spider and on which arejournaled the pinions 34 and The pinion 34 meshes with a circular rack36 on the upper section 23 of the casing and the pinion 35 meshes withthe circular rack 37 on the lower section of the casing. The two pinions34 and 35 are rigidly connected together. The

'pinion 34 is considerably larger than the pinion 35.

The rack 36 may also contain fewer teeth than the rack 37 whereby adifferential movement may be obtained between the upper section of thecasing and the section 11 of the brake stafi, as will presently appear.Means for causing the lower section 12 of the brake staff to turn withthe upper section 11 will now be described. A disk 38 having inclinedratchet teeth 39 on its upper surface is slidably mounted on'the lowerangular end 41 of the upper section 11 of the brake staff. The disk 08is non-rotatablv mounted on the end 41 as by being provided with anangular hole through which the end 41 extends' The spider 28 is providedwith upstanding lugs 42 to which a pawl 43 is pivotally connected. Thepawl is adapted to engage the inclined teeth 39 thereby causing thespider to turn as the hand wheel 13 is turned. The pawl is weighted atits outer end which will hold the pawl in engagement with the teeth 39during the initial turning movement of' the brake staff. The teeth areso inclined and the pawl so arranged that the pawl will tend to rideover the teeth during the final turning movement of wheel 13 in applyingthe brakes. In applying the brakes, when the resistance to the turningmovement of the lower section 12 of the staff reaches a predeterminedamount, as when the brakes engage the wheels, thepawl 43 will slip overthe inclined teeth 39 and other means are necessary to cause the partsto operate to apply the brakes.

The final turning movement of the brake staff is accomplished throughthe disk 44 which is provided on its upper surface with ratchet teeth45that are engaged by a pawl 46 mounted on the upper section 23 of thecasing. The disk 44 is rigidly connected to the staffsection 11.

In the operation of the device, assuming that the brakes are in offposition, the wheel 13 is turned clockwise which will 'zarry the disks38 and 44 also clockwise. The pawl 43 engaging the teeth 39 of the disk38 will carry the spider 28 in the same direction, and at the same speedas the wheel 13. Since the spider is fixed on the section 12 of thelower section, that section will move at the same rate of speed as theupper section of the staff. During this initial turning movemcnt of thewheel the cable 16 will be wound on the larger diameter of the conicaldrum l4 and the cable acting on the short arm of the lever 17 will causethe long arm of said lover to rapidly take up the slack in the brakeoperating mechanism. In other words, the two sections 11 and 12 willmove as a single rod in taking up the slack. The fact that theengagement of the pinions 34 and 35 with the racks 36 and 37 will causethe casing 23 to overrun is immaterial since the pawl 46 which ismounted on the casing 22} will ride over the teeth 44 as is usual inpawl and ratchet construction and permit the upper casing section 23 torotate faster than the staff sections 11 and 12.

hen the resistance to the rotation of the lower section 12 reaches apredetermined amount, as when the brake shoes engage the wheels, thepawl 43 will ride up over the ratchet teeth of the disk 38 whereupon thecasing 23 and spider 28 will no longer be rotated by said pawl. At thisinstant the pawl 46 will engage the ratchet teeth 45 as the latter arerotated, thereby causing the casing 23 to turn at the same rate of speedas the wheel 13. Further turning movement of the wheel 13 will rotatethe shaft section 12 through the differential gearing at a reduced rateof speed whereby an increase of leverage is available for setting thebrakes. The ratio of rotation between the shaft sections 11 and 12 maybe varied by varying the ratio of teeth between the pinions 34 and andbetween the racks 36 and 37. After the brakes have been set they areheld in this position by the automatic locking of the differentialmechanism. Assuming that the ratio of movement between the two sections11 and 12 of the shaft are as 4 to 1 when the shaft 12 tends to movecounterclockwise, it will carry the spider 28 with it, which movementthrough the operation of the diflerential gear mechanism will tend tocause the casing 23 to move counterclockwise at four times the speed ofthe spider 28, but the pawl 43 which is mounted on said spider willengage the ratchet teeth on the disk 38 and lock the two sections of thestaff together, thereby tending to cause the casing 23 to rotate at fourtimes the rate of speed of the shaft. This relative movement between theshaft and casing, how ever, is prevented by the pawl 46 on the casing,which engages ratchet teeth on the disk 44 on the shaft, consequentlythe parts are automatically locked in adjusted position.

Suitable means are provided for releasing the pawl 43 to permit therelease of the brakes. Any suitable means may be employed for thispurpose. As shown, a lever 47 is pivoted in the hub 27 of the lowercasing 24. The lever is provided with arms 48 which are adapted to beturned upwardly through llll) Ill) lill) Ill slots 49, see Fig. 2, inthe bottom of the lower casing. The disk member 38 is slidably mountedon the lower end of the staff section 11 and is adapted to be supportedby a plate 51, slidably mounted on the lower end of said shaft andhaving leg portions 52 which extend downwardly through suitable openingsin the spider 28 and engage a disk 53 which is adapted to be engagedbythe arms 48 to raise and lower the same \Vhen the arms 48 are turned intheir upward position as shown in Fig. 3 the disk 38 is elevated so thatthe ratchet teeth are in engagement with the pawl 43. When the arms 48are turned tov the dotted line position shown in Fi 3 the disk 38 islowered into the depression in the spider 28 and the pawl 43 whichextends across said depression will be held out of engagement with theratchet teeth on said disk. In other words, when it is desired torelease the brake the lever 47 is moved so that the arms 48 will permitthe disk 38 to slide downwardly on the lower end of the shaft 11 intothe depression in the spider 28 out of engagement with the pawl 43.

It is thought from the foregoing taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings that the construction and operation of my devicewill be apparent to those skilled in. the art, and that various changesin size, shape, proportion and details of construction may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 1. A brake staff comprising an upper section, alower section, and differential gear mechanism connecting said sections,said mechanism including a housing comprising a lower section rigidlyconnected to a support, an upper section rotatably mounted relatively tosaid staff, said sections being provided with circular racks ofdifferent radii, a spider rigidly mounted on the lower section of thestaff, a pair of gears rigidlv connected together, carried by saidspider and ei'igaging said racks, a yielding connection between saidstaff and spider, and a pawl and ratchet connection between said staffand the upper section of the casing.

2. A brake staff comprising an upper section, a lower section, anddifferential gear mechanism connecting said sections, said mechanismincluding a housing comprising a lower section rigidly connected to asupport,

an upper section rotatably mounted relatively to said staff, saidsections being provided with circular racks of different radii, a spiderrigidly mounted on the lower section of the staff, a pair of gearsrigidly connected together, carried by said spider and engaging saidracks, a yielding connection between said staff and spider, a pawl andratchet connection between said staff and the upper section of thecasing, and means for disengaging said spider from said staff.

3. In eombinatioma sectionalbrake staff comprising an operating section,an operated section, anddifferential gear mechanism be tween saidsections, said mechanism comprising fixed and movable annular racks, agear support fixed to said operated section, a gear member journaled onsaid support, said gear member comprising a pair of gears rigidlyconnected together and of different diameters for engaging said racks,respectively, and means for preventing rotation of said movable rack ina direction opposite to that of said operating section.

4. In combination, a sectional brake staff comprising an operatingsection, an operated section, and differential gear mechanism betweensaid sections, said mechanism comprising fixed and movable annularracks, said racks having an unequal number of teeth, a gear supportnon-rotatably connected to the operated section of said staff, a pair ofrela tively fixed gears journaled on said support for engaging saidracks respectively, and a pawl and ratchet mechanism for preventing saidmovable rack from rotating contra to that of the operating section ofsaid staff.

5. In combination, a sectional brake staff comprising an operatingsection and an operated section, and differential gear mechanism betweensaid sections, said mechanism comprising a fixed rack, a movable rack,supports for said racks, a spider member non-rotatably mounted on theoperated section of said staff, a plurality of sets of non-rotatablyconnected gears journaled 011 said spider member, the gears of each setengaging said racks, respectively, the combined number of teeth of onegear of each set and its cooperating rack being greater than the othergear of said set and its cooperating rack, a pair of ratchet membersrotatable with the operating section of said staff and a pawl on thesupport for said movable rack, and a pawl on said spider member, forengaging said racks.

(3. In combination, a sectional brake staff comprising an operatingsection and an operated section, and differential gear mechanism betweensaid. sections, said mechanism comprising a fixed rack, a movable rack,supports for said racks, a spider member non-rotatably mounted on theoperated section of said staff, a plurality of sets of nonrot-atablyconnected gears journaled on said spider member, the gears of each setengaging said racks, respectively, the combined number of teeth of onegear of each set and its cooperating rack being greater than the othergear of said set and its cooperating rack, a pair of ratchet membersrotatable with the operating section of said staff, a pawl on thesupport for said movable rack for engaging one of said ratchet membersand a weighted pawl on said spider member for engaging the other ratchetmember, whereby upon the initial operation of the brakes both sectionsof said staff will move together to take up the slack in the brakeoperating mechanism, and during the application of the brakes theoperating section of said staff will move more rapidly than the operatedsection.

7. In combination, a sectional brake staff comprising an operatingsection and an operated section, and differential gear mecha nismbetween said sections, said mechanism comprising a fixed rack, a movablerack, supports for said racks, a spider member non-rotatably mounted onthe operated section-of said staff, a plurality of sets of non rotatablyconnected gears journaled on said spider member, the gears of each setengaging said racks, respectively, the combined number of teeth of onegear of each set and its cooperating rack being greater than the othergear of said set and its cooperating rack, a pair of ratchet membersrotatable with the operating section of. said staff, a pawl on thesupport for said movable rack for engaging one of said racks, a pawlmovable with said spider member for engaging the other rack, and meansfor releasing said last named pawl.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

PERCY B. CAMP.

